by Deborah Lawwill

Created on: June 22, 2009

Living with social anxiety is very difficult. It gets in the way of your life and makes things difficult that would normally be easy for most people. Growing up an only child and an outcast most of my school years, I never associated with very many people my age. I turned to video games, books, and drawing. I enjoyed my own space and my own world. I didn't even know that I had social anxiety until my parents took me to a psychiatrist as a teenager and I was diagnosed.

They had me on Seroquil. I hated the way that the medication made me feel so against my parents wishes, I quit taking it. Then I sought out alternative routes to coping. I read about homeopathy and emotional wellness in Spirituality magazines. I started using the suggestions provided within the glossy pages of my new found interest. One of the things that helped me cope was saying "Hi" to people I didn't know and giving them a friendly smile. At first it was difficult and I needed the help of one of my very close friends, but in time with her patience and my desire to get better, together we accomplished something wonderful. I learned the right way to speak to people and how to understand how other's were feeling. The most important lesson was empathy. When I took the focus off of my own feelings and placed it on someone else's it made interacting with people less stressful and even rewarding.

It took many, many years to get where I am now. Even still I am anxious around new people and my first instinct is to hide, yet I have learned powerful coping skills and the courage to face my fears. Social anxiety will always be something I have to cope with but we all cope with things each day.

I personally do not believe drugs will do any good for anyone. I was on numerous medications throughout my childhood and all they did was make things worse. There's powerful tools in nature and I think it's best to take those steps. In some cases, treating a mental illness or social disease is as easy as a change of diet and some herbal supplements. ADD/ADHD patients now have the option to learn meditation or yoga to help improve their focus and it doesn't have the terrible side effects that pills have. Pills are a very lazy and ineffective way to deal with any illness of the mind. I know first hand because my whole family suffers from mental illness. I've never seen anything good come from a bottle of Prozac or some Riddlin shoved down someone's throat. It may mask the problem, but it doesn't solve it.

I spend a little time each day in front of my altar in prayer and meditation, take a multi-vitamin, eat a healthy diet, and take practice martial arts. This has helped heal my mind so much. Though I think it's different for each person. We all just have to find the things that work for us.

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